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Coast Guard Returns 23 Migrants To Cuba

MIAMI (CBSMiamiAP) – Nearly two dozen Cuban migrants picked up by the Coast Guard have been returned to their homeland.

Coast Guard officials said the 23 migrants were returned to Bahia de Cabanas, Cuba on Wednesday.

The migrants were picked up in two separate interdictions between July 19 and July 22. Officials say Customs and Border Protection patrols spotted rustic vessels heading north across the Florida Straits. Coast Guard crews responded to those reports and transferred all the migrants to a cutter.

The migrants received food, water and basic medical care before they were repatriated.

According to Coast Guard records, 782 Cubans have been picked up at sea and returned to their Caribbean home since Oct. 1.